The End

I can't believe the ride is finished. About two days ago we reached Bethany Beach. The last couple days at the beach and DC were fun. Rebecca & Ed came out and rode for a while on the W&OD with us. Then Jill, Fernando and my family met us at the beach. It was an amazing experience where I got to meet some great people. I'm in the process of readjusting to non-ride life. Its much more fun to get up each morning and ride your bike than pay bills and do laundry. Thanks everyone for your support.

West Virginia

I can't believe we're already in West Virginia - back in the mountains.

The rest of the time in Columbus/Ohio was fun. Its kind of funny, once we hit Columbus, I felt like we were done, but there was still ~600 miles left. Even though the hills are back, are days are much more relaxed then they were when we first started. People tend to take more time and enjoy the ride - that might also be because it doesn't hurt like it did in the beginning.

New function on my camera, the multishot - having the best ice cream I've had all trip.

The poverty lecture team right before Van left to graduate/get married.

Yes, there really is a town with this name.

Into Columbus

We made it into Columbus today. Another point that always seemed so far off, but is already here.

Today's ride was an easy 75 miles with a great tailwind. Dave & Anuj's family brought lunch - I overate a bunch of Indian food which was great (except for how it felt when I was riding).

We saw these guys on the path today - greatest recumbents I've seen.

Longest Day

Enjoying some watermelon b/c it was such a nice day.

We didn't make it to 150 miles yesterday, but we did make it to the border of Ohio at 114 miles. We had to be somewhere at 6pm, so they started taking people off the route at 3:30. I was near the front, so we were able to make it to the border where they were taking everyone off just before the sweep got there. 114 miles is our longest day yet, so I'm happy that I was able to finish it.

Pig roast at Joe's sister's house.

Yesterday was really nice. A full day where it didn't rain at all. Doesn't happen too often. I love days where the weather is nice. Those are the days where its fun to get on the bike, and I enjoy the trip.
Kel and I showing off our nice Euro mullets while having a break of espresso and candy cigs.

Bloomington

It rained again today.

I was on support, so I didn't get wet at first, but then I ended up helping with flats, loading gear, etc. Its a lot more fun to be wet when you're not wearing jeans. My team had three presentations today. Two were this morning to the elementary school where we slept last night (local TV came and filmed Katie talking).

Van and I then presented at Indiana Univ this evening. After, the other veggies and I found the closest thing to a Whole Foods and stocked up on veg products. We're staying in apts at the university. Tomorrow we have 150 miles. My guess is that everyone is going to be swept.

Indiana

I can't believe how fast the ride is going now - we're in Indiana. I think my favorite thing about getting into Indiana - their sign says "Lincoln's Boyhood Home," an obvious jab at Illinois that loves its connection to him.

The school that we're staying at today is great - they've made posters and signs and the kids all made us place mats.

I love these signs - many of the towns have these when you enter - ads, telling you how wholesome the towns are.

Today's ride was pretty nice. 90 miles & rain, but it was pretty flat.

The Arch & Illinois

We had yet another day of rain. It was so nice when yesterday's weather was beautiful. It gets hard getting on the bike every day when its raining. We waited for a while (us in the gym above) for the lightening to pass in St. Louis. When it didn't, we had to drive to our lunch spot where day riders were waiting for us. It cleared up in the afternoon and we were able to ride the last 50 miles of the day. One more state - we're in Illinois for only 2 days.
One of the day riders today had a new way to scare away dogs (which there were a lot of in rural, Southern Illinois). He carries a mini-revolver and shoots blanks to scare the dogs away. Its different, but it works.

The Most Underrated State, Missouri

I've decided that Missouri gets a bad rap. I have really liked the state. Its much more populated than I thought, with many small, fun towns. It is also very green with nice rolling hills. St. Louis is also much nicer than I thought it would be. We're staying at the Wash U Medical Center.
Today was a short and easy ride. We did get lost for the 3rd time in 3 days. Here Anuj is getting directions from a local farmer. My favorite part of the whole thing was when the guy came over to us and asked "Hey, don't you all have a GPS?" Not at all the response I was expecting.

Greenery and trees are a nice change. We had an event at a local high school for a college bound program. The students were a lot of fun. As a gift they gave us a book of essays that they had written.

I forgot to write about this yesterday - Dogs - especially for Christina and Tracey. I had my second big dog charge yesterday. I was riding along and saw a large dog running at the riders in front of me. When he didn't get them, he turned to me. I thought I was going to have issues, but when he ran toward me, I squirted my water bottle in his face and that calmed him down.

Jeff City

First off, Happy Mother's Day Mom and all the other mothers out there. Today we went from Jefferson City to Washington.

It was a pretty easy day. 75 miles with a tailwind. It started off cold and rainy, but the tailwind made it quick and easy.

One of the rest stops was at a winery where we took a tour and had a tasting. Billy, the guy on the left in the picture above was a lot of fun and full of trivia.
Tomorrow we go to St. Louis - It will be our last day in MO, which has been much nicer and more built up than I thought it would be.

I was on support yesterday, and it turned out to be kind of a rough day. There was no sign on the road where we needed to turn off and we got lost on the way out of town and the riders had to start the day with about 8 miles in the wrong way. I felt pretty bad about it. Then there was a detour that added another 16 or so miles to the route because a new bridge was being built. This picture is from about a week ago. We were in the middle of nowhere and we got stopped by this construction worker. It was pretty funny.

Misery, MO

The new Kem - without beard and without Borat.
The way the day started, I thought Missouri was going to be horrible. It was rainy, hilly and windy - but the day turned out pretty nice in the end. We rode 104 miles. We were talking today about how fun it is that we ride centuries like its any other day. I've been impressed with Missouri so far - its a lot more built up than I thought it was going to be.

Our day in Kansas City went well. The event at the medical school had a good turn out with interesting speakers and involved students. Carissa got us hooked up with free tickets to the Royals vs Orioles game which was a lot of fun. One of the foul balls hit the seat in front of me. I'd be lying if I said I tried to catch it - more of the opposite, I was trying my best to make sure that I didn't get in the ball's way.
I sported my new haircut -
Cut by Kel and styled by Samara.

Kansas, Not as Advertised

We had a short talk at the Mennonite church this morning. I spoke with some of the members after the presentation and asked a bunch of questions about their church. Everyone was in plain clothes and it sounds like the church has basically gone mainstream - there are a few individual churches that have broken away and stuck to the more traditional dress, etc. I also learned that the Amish were a break away group from the Mennonites.

We had our last day of riding in Kansas today - and of course, it rained, and we got pretty muddy.
Only 8 of us finished the entire ride because of traffic and rain coming into Kansas City. It was really hilly coming into the city - lots of unexpected climbs. We did get tracked by the NBC helicopter for the evening news which we then later saw which was pretty cool. We're staying at the KU medical center and have an event here tomorrow. The room we're staying in is tiny and smells like people that have been biking in the rain for days.

Why does Kansas hate me?

Every day Kansas has given us a new challenge. At first we had the wind. Then the rain. Today we had over 10 miles of chopped up/stripped road. That's a long time to rattle. I guess all the shaking made my bike computer cables loose. It caught on my pedal and got yanked out. 90 miles can be a while without an odometer.

I like this part of Kansas much more. It looks a little like Bukoba/Uganda and what I would imagine Ireland to look like. Fun, rolling hills.

We're staying in a Mennonite church in Topeka. Topeka looks kind of how you would expect it, maybe smaller.

Kel gave me a haircut. I'll post a picture once I have one.

RAIN

Kansas weather has not been good to us. After a few days of crazy winds, we had our first day of rain today. It started just after we left Lyons. Light, and then constant. It was actually pretty nice to ride in. My biggest complaint was that I had just cleaned my bike last night. Plus, I was riding with Erin who loved being in the rain, so that kept me happy about the ride.

This is a picture of Dave filling water bottles at the first rest stop. After I waited in the van, it was freezing to go back out into the rain. We only lasted a couple of miles though until they pulled us off the road because of lightening. We went and waited out the rest of the thunder/lightening in the town of Lindsborg, which considers itself Little Sweden. It was kind of like Helen in North Georgia.

We dried out for a little in a local church and had some coffee and pastries in town before heading back into the rain which let up after a couple of miles. It was still wet, but not too bad. This part of Kansas is not flat as advertised. Rolling hills actually, but nothing bad. Most of the afternoon was dry - we made it to the school where we are staying in Herington just before it started to rain again. The people at the school where we are staying are really nice and have pointed out the tornado shelters for us.

On Support

I was on support for today's ride. It was about 100 miles in Western Kansas. In one of the first towns we went through, Katie and I pulled over to cheer on the riders. Once I pulled over I looked in my rear view mirror and saw that there was a cop behind me. After getting nervous, it turns out the cop was just checking to make sure I was ok because I had my hazards on and had pulled over. Then we talked about the ride and he was super nice and welcoming. Right after that, this guy with 4 dogs pulled over and was also very nice. Turns out he has a bed and breakfast in that town for cyclists. He had Katie and I come over to see his brand new puppies and meet his wife. If I had been closer to home, I would have taken one of them with me.

Yesterday's break at a donut shop that had run out of donuts.
Hanging out after the ride in the Ness City gym.
At our first rest stop today we ended up stopping at the same spot that the Patriot Guard Riders were meeting up. They are a huge group of motorcyclists that go to the funerals of fallen service men to support the families and block out the protests of WBC and Rev. Phelps. "Reverend" Phelps likes to show up at the funerals to celebrate their deaths because he believes that God killed the service men because they support a country where gays are not persecuted. Phelps was the same guy in NYC that used celebrate the deaths of NYFD and NYPD for the same reasons. Turns out his church is based in Topeka.
To celebrate Cinco de Mayo Eve, our support group made a pinta and had an Oreo lick off at dinner. Fun times in Lyons, KS.

Ness City, KS

So, Kansas is still flat.

There are a lot of smells here - motly of farming and something to do with grain I guess. We've seen a lot of fields and a couple of cow farms. I spent all of today in pace lines which made it easier in the wind and helped pass the time. We went about 80 miles today.

Kansas Wind

I forgot to mention yesterday how flat Easter Colorado is. Lots of nothing for a long time, but for some reason there are a lot of fences. Not really sure what they are keeping in or out.
My favorite part of yesterday was when a giant tumbleweed got caught in my tire while riding. This is actually from today when yet another tumbleweed got caught.
We entered Kansas today about 40some miles into our day, but we ended up not riding. There were crazy winds which really picked up during our lunch break. The rest of today's ride was called off because of the potential danger of riding in such high winds. And when I say winds, I mean serious winds that almost knock you over when standing still. Maybe the only time I've felt such winds are in hurricane type storms.
When we got to the town of Leoti, KS where we are staying we went to the Museum of the Great Plains. They had this list of rules for teachers from 1915 - thought all you teachers would appreciate this.

Denver

Denver has been fun. Fernando came out and picked me up along the ride yesterday. We had Thai yesterday and a good brunch this morning. Yes, food at a table and not cooked for 23 is exciting.

We met up with George this morning. He is a friend/student from Tanzania that just moved here to Denver three months ago. We took him out for some Greek food so that he could experience a different kind of American restaurant. It was nice to see him and meet his kids. It was also great to catch up.
---------
After hanging out for the day yesterday, Fernando left me back with the team this morning. It was good to see him and hang out for the day. The weather was crazy today. When we left Denver this morning there was a crazy snow storm. Then we got to Eastern Colorado where we were giving a presentation. When we arrived it was hot. When we finished, a crazy wind storm had started and the wind continued for the rest of the day. It was a lot of work to keep riding into the wind.
Chris and Maryanne in the van trying to wait out the wind storm, but the end never came so we biked through it.